Above photo: Maxim Shemetov/AP.
Turkiye is leading the call for the embargo.
Despite its ongoing trade with, and oil deliveries to, Israel.
The Foreign Ministry of Turkiye sent the UN a letter signed by 52 nations and two organizations calling for a halt in military transfers to Israel, stating the Israeli army is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called for the arms embargo on Israel while speaking at a news conference in Djibouti on 1 November.
While attending the Turkiye–Africa collaboration meeting, Fidan announced that the group letter was sent to the UN and that it must be “repeated at every opportunity that selling arms to Israel means participating in its genocide.”
Ahmet Yildiz, Turkiye’s permanent ambassador to the UN, stated that Israel’s actions have pushed the region to the brink of war.
Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the UN to impose an arms embargo on Israel, saying it would be an “effective solution” to end the war on Gaza.
Erdogan asserted that Israel is trying to spread the “flames of conflict” across the region and would inevitably “pay the price for this ongoing genocide in Gaza, sooner or later.”
While Ankara calls for an arms embargo on Israel, it continues to allow transit of oil from Azerbaijan to Israel. The oil, which passes through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil pipeline and is then loaded onto tankers for delivery to Israel, is crucial for the Israeli economy and for its air force and army to continue attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.
“Erdogan, turn off the oil valves,” said a banner carried by the activist group called “One Thousand Youth for Palestine” at a protest outside the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) headquarters in Istanbul in early September. “End your participation in Israel’s genocide.”
Erdogan and Fidan previously collaborated with Israel and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by Masoud Barzani, in northern Iraq in a scheme to deliver Kurdish crude to Israel. In June 2014, the three powers supported ISIS’ invasion of Mosul, which allowed the Kurdish Peshmerga to conquer oil-rich Kirkuk and begin oil exports to Israel via Turkiye.
The support ISIS enjoyed from Ankara, Washington, Erbil, and Paris was crucial in helping the terror group commit genocide against the Yezidi religious minority in Iraq two months later.
Turkish businesses have also kept up exports to Israel amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza, despite a formal trade ban, Middle East Eye (MEE) reported in September.
Instead of sending products directly to Israel, Turkish exporters are now sending products indirectly via Palestinian Authority (PA) customs, according to statistical data from the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM).
The data, released on 2 September, reveals a 423 percent surge in Turkish exports to Palestine in the first eight months of this year.
This marks a jump from $77 million in the same period last year to $403 million in 2024.
Turkish exports to Palestine in the month of August rose by 1,156 percent, jumping from $10 million in 2023 to $127 million this year.
“It suggests that the trend of using Palestine to maintain trade with Israel has been accelerating,” MEE wrote.
US warns Tehran it ‘can’t restrain’ Israel if Iran retaliates: Report
Israeli intelligence estimates that the Iranian response could be launched from Iraqi territory in the coming days
Washington has warned Tehran that it “won’t be able to hold Israel back” if the Islamic Republic retaliates to Tel Aviv’s attack against a number of Iranian military sites last month, US and Israeli officials told Axios on 2 November.
“We told the Iranians: We won’t be able to hold Israel back, and we won’t be able to make sure that the next attack will be calibrated and targeted as the previous one,” the US official told the outlet.
The report claims the message was passed along via Switzerland. Iran and the US have not commented.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned on the same day that Israel will receive a “tooth-breaking” response for its actions against the Islamic Republic “and the rest of the resistance front.”
“We will do whatever is necessary in confronting arrogance, whether in terms of military and armament or politically. The Iranian people and officials will never hesitate in facing global arrogance and the criminal apparatus ruling the world order,” the Supreme Leader went on to say.
“The issue is not just about revenge, but rather acting with logic and confrontation consistent with religion, ethics, Sharia, and international laws. The issue is confronting international injustice, and for the Iranian people, confronting oppression and arrogance is a mandatory duty,” he added.
The head of Khamenei’s office also vowed that Tehran’s response “will be severe, and the enemy will regret it.”
The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said late last month that the consequences of Israel’s attack would be “bitter and unimaginable.”
Axios reported days ago, citing Israeli intelligence estimates, that Iran is preparing its retaliation from Iraqi territory and will use a large number of drones and ballistic missiles. It said the Iranian attack could likely happen in the coming days.
Israel launched a missile and drone attack on Iranian military sites in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan, and Ilam during the early hours of 26 October, killing four Iranian soldiers. Iranian air defenses managed to intercept a significant portion of the incoming projectiles and thwart the majority of the strikes, according to officials.
Tehran reported limited damage to some sites and radar systems, while Israel described the attack as a total success.
The attack followed Tehran’s launching of hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel in early October, which targeted several Israeli military bases in response to the assassination of Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, and IRGC Deputy of Operations General Abbas Nilforoushan.